JP2000207471A - A method of coding an article to associate it with online computer electronic information about the article - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] To provide a method of linking an article with online computer information related to the article by assigning coded data to each article. The coded data can be printed at an appropriate place on an article. The code uniquely associates the item with stored computer data about the item accessed via the Internet. Once the user enters the code into the computer, electronic data relating to the coded article is retrieved and stored in the user's electronic archive by accessing the code via the Internet or a similar communication network.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the coding of articles, and more particularly, to coding techniques for linking articles and online computer electronic information relating to the articles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Coded indicators, such as bar codes, are used on goods, such as retail goods, manufactured goods, and printed matter, for a number of purposes, such as classification, availability, selling price, author, and mailing. The present invention provides a novel article coding technique that links an article with online electronic computer information about the article. Thereafter, the electronic information can be displayed, printed, or communicated to the user in a similar manner.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for linking an article with online information for an online computer relating to the article by assigning a code to each article. The code is attached to the appropriate place on the article.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This code uniquely associates an article with computer-stored data relating to the article, which data is accessed through the Internet. When the user enters the code into the computer,
Accessing the code through the Internet or a similar communication network retrieves the electronic data for the coded article and then stores the electronic data in the user's electronic archive.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Internet and World
With the advent of the Wide Web, a great deal of information about goods has become available to computer users. For example, if the item is a particular watch, codes indicating the manufacturer and product model are associated with the item,
In the present invention, a computer user enters this code into the Internet via a computer keyboard or scanner to access an Internet site associated with the watch. From this Internet site, users can get the current price of watches, where and how to buy them, where to send them for repair, parts lists, and much more. Many newspaper and magazine publishers also offer their media in both print and electronic online versions. The printing plate is clearly easier to read because the printing paper is of higher quality than the computer display. However, the electronic version is much better for exploration and storage.

[0006] With respect to the document-related embodiments of the present invention, the present invention provides a method that is used when a user reads a printed article and wants to save the document. However, users have no space to store printed articles,
Alternatively, they may want to avoid clutter and prefer to store copies in digital form on a computer so that users can access and search the document at a later time.

The following description uses documents as articles,
SUMMARY One embodiment of the present invention is directed to an embodiment of the present invention that reduces the need to collect and store paper documents and provides a method for automating document clipping operations. According to this method, the search for the document is further facilitated. There is no need to make the online version exactly the printed version. The online version offers more data, relevant data, follow-up articles, multimedia and
The printing plate can be augmented with something similar that cannot be captured, such as on presentations and printed matter.

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the steps of the method according to the invention. FIG.
In step 10, an interface is provided for collecting coded data about the item and introducing the data to the user's computer. Next, at step 12, a computer input message from the user incorporating a code number associated with the data to be collected is formed, and the input message is sent to the target customer or web site for information retrieval. Then step 1
At 4, the retrieved information is transmitted to the selected destination.

[0009] As a specific example of the present invention, information for searching for a document desired by the user is used. The input from the user includes the code number of the article (document) desired by the user. The provider system reads the code number, retrieves an electronic copy of the desired document, and displays it on the user's monitor. The document code number can be a simple number or a bar code. If it is a number, the user enters the number manually via the computer keyboard,
In the case of a bar code, the number can be scanned by a scanner, so that the user does not need to remember the code number. When a document code number is entered using a scanner connected to the user's computer, the user's computer automatically initiates a connection to the online data and retrieves the online document. It also has a function of storing the searched online information at an appropriate position in the user's electronic archive. If desired, a combination of manual and scanner input can be used. For example, a plurality of document code numbers can be scanned at one time. Thereafter, when the user connects the scanner to the computer, the captured document codes are all processed one by one.

More specifically, the user input includes
Target customers can also be included in addition to the manual or scanned input document code. The target customer is a customer to whom the document code is sent. For example, the target customer may be at the machine to which the scanner is directly interfaced, or may be a server on a computer on the Internet or an intranet to which the user connects. The target customer is identified by a uniquely assigned identification address such as its IP address. Upon receiving the customer identification input combined with the document code, the target customer accesses a storage table that makes the document a URL in order to identify the URL. The target customer makes a web (http, http, ftp, etc.) request for the URL, and sends the URL data directly or through the target customer.
Instructs transmission to the user's computer.

The bar code used in the present invention comprises, for example, a left half and a right half of the code. The left half contains the quiescent zone (blank 9 modules), protection pattern (3 modules), category (7 modules), and manufacturer (35 modules), and the right half contains product identification (35 modules), check digit. (7 modules), a protection pattern (3 modules), and a quiescent zone (9 modules). The left and right halves are separated by a central protection pattern (5 modules).

The method of the present invention completely automates the process of continuing a print with an online electronic version corresponding to the print, reducing user time and effort.

It should be noted that some printed articles provide a web page address next to the printed version of the document. The method of the present invention also fully automates this process, reducing the burden on the user.

As discussed above, the present invention can be extended for use with other articles. Further, the present invention can be used in other technologies. For example, the method disclosed herein can be extended to excerpts of radio information. For example, suppose you hear something important while driving a car and listening to a radio broadcast. For example, I heard that tickets for concerts I wanted to go were on sale. In this case, according to a feature of the invention, simply pressing the record button on the radio records information about the concert, such as on a smart card of the radio, and stores enough data to obtain an online version of the ticket sales counter. Is done.
When you arrive at your home or the nearest store where you can buy tickets, you can remove a radio or smart card or other piece of data from your car and connect it to your computer or phone line to connect to your online store. Where you can buy tickets.
Thus, the whole process of ticket purchase is significantly simplified. No need to write down your phone number or web address while driving. This concept can be applied to other things such as news articles, sports scoring results, stock quotes, etc. In each case, the web / internet data is transmitted with a radio signal that can be recorded by radio. The radio itself is not connected to the Internet. When the user presses the record button, the Internet data associated with the radio is recorded. The recorded Internet data can be used to connect to the Internet at a later point in time, allowing the user to obtain more information from the Internet, as described in the example above.

The radio itself or a part of the radio is removable, for example, serial, parallel, US
B or other components or interface to connect to computer via telephone. Once connected to a computer or videophone, the user is directed to the appropriate web site. Once connected to the phone, you can communicate with the company's telephone operator.

The Internet data itself may include a web address for the relevant information, and may be a number or a bar code.

As an alternative, the Internet data can be constructed from auxiliary data such as radio station frequency, local date and time, and the latitude and longitude of the location where the information was recorded. This information can then be sent to a central server. On the server, an Internet search based on the transmission data is performed, and the location of the online information is located. If the service provider and the broadcaster provide a standardized way of displaying Internet data, this search will be a simple search. If no negotiated standard intervenes, the search becomes more complicated, but then the broadcaster does not need to change the broadcast. Other items, such as objects, can also be provided with an identification tag that can be read by a tag reader and transmitted to an Internet accessible device. For example, updated information on children's toys, such as changing the language of a talking doll from English to German, can be obtained from a website on the Internet.

In summary, the following matters are disclosed regarding the configuration of the present invention.

(1) A method of encoding an article for associating it with online computer electronic information about the article, which provides an interface for collecting encoded data about the article and introducing the data to a user's computer. And forming a computer input message from a computer user incorporating a code number associated with the collected data, and based on the collected data, transmitting the input message to a target customer or directly to a web site for information retrieval Steps to
Sending the retrieved information to a selected destination. (2) The method according to (1), including forming information to be searched based on the collected data. (3) The method according to (1), wherein the step of transmitting the retrieved information to a selected destination includes transmitting the retrieved information to another electronic data processing device. (4) The method according to (1), wherein the step of transmitting the searched information to a selected destination includes transmitting the information to a computer user and displaying the searched information on a display screen of the computer user. The described method. (5) transmitting the retrieved information to a computer user includes printing the retrieved information;
The method according to the above (4). (6) The method according to (1), wherein the code number associated with the article is a bar code disposed on the article. (7) The method according to (4), wherein the article is a printed document. (8) The method according to (6), wherein the article is a manufactured product. (9) The method according to (1), wherein the computer input message includes an address of a specific target provider system. (10) The method according to (1), wherein the computer input message is a wireless signal transmitted by a computer input device. (11) The method according to (1), wherein the computer input message includes an item classification, inventory, selling price, author, mailing, and the like. (12) The method according to (1), wherein the searched information is classified or categorized according to an item number, searched data, size, and the like, and stored in a user's computer. (13) The method according to (1), wherein the encoded data is further encrypted. (14) the wireless signal is recorded on a removable storage device and includes information related to radio broadcasting;
The method according to (10), including an excerpt of a radio broadcast of the data. (15) The method according to (14), wherein the wireless signal is associated with a video transmission signal. (16) A computer usable medium for executing a computer readable program code for linking an article and computer online information corresponding to the article, wherein the computer readable program in the article of manufacture comprises:
The code causes the computer to collect coded data about the item and form the computer readable program code for introducing the data into the computer and a computer input message incorporating a code number associated with the data to be collected. The input message to a target customer for information
A computer-usable medium comprising computer readable program code for transmission to a site and computer readable program code for transmitting retrieved information data to be collected to a selected destination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a method in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A method of encoding an article for associating with on-line computer electronic information about the article, providing an interface for collecting encoded data about the article and introducing the data to a user's computer. Forming a computer input message from a computer user incorporating a code number associated with the collected data, and transmitting the input message to a target customer or directly to a web site for information retrieval based on the collected data. And transmitting the retrieved information to a selected destination. 2. The method according to claim 1, comprising forming information to be searched based on the collected data. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the retrieved information to a selected destination comprises transmitting the retrieved information to another electronic data processing device. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the retrieved information to a selected destination includes transmitting the information to a computer user and displaying the retrieved information on a display screen of the computer user. The method described in. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein transmitting the retrieved information to a computer user comprises printing the retrieved information. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the code number associated with the article is a bar code disposed on the article. 7. The method of claim 4, wherein said article is a printed document. 8. The method of claim 6, wherein said article is a manufactured article. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said computer input message includes an address of a particular target provider system. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said computer input message is a wireless signal transmitted by a computer input device. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer input message includes item classification, inventory, sales price, author, mailing, and the like. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieved information is stored in a user's computer, categorized or categorized by item number, retrieved data, size, and the like. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein said coded data is further encrypted. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the wireless signal includes a radio broadcast excerpt of Internet data recorded on a removable storage device and including information regarding the radio broadcast. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein said wireless signal is associated with a video transmission signal. 16. A computer usable medium for executing a computer readable program code for linking an article and computer online information corresponding to the article, wherein the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture comprises a computer. Causing the computer to form a computer input message incorporating computer readable program code for introducing the data into a computer and code numbers associated with the data to be collected. A computer readable program code for sending the message to the target customer or website for information retrieval, and a computer readable program code for transmitting the retrieved information data to be collected to a selected destination. No computer-usable media.